OCBC’S LEGISLATIVE SCORECARD IS RELEASED! OCBC took positions and advocated on behalf of several state bills that impacted the business community throughout California’s most recent legislative session. For the second year in a row, Senator Huff best represented the business community’s key interests with a voting record of 96.4 percent on critical bills making him OCBC’s Legislator of the Year. “OCBC is proud of the continued partnership with Senator Bob Huff,” said Lucy Dunn, OCBC President and CEO. “His leadership on efforts advancing education standards and opportunities, and improving mobility for Orange County residents is critical to the prosperous development of this region and state.”

This year, OCBC’s Advocacy and Government Affairs Committee identified 48 “scorecard bills” as the most critical to the regional business community. Of those tracked, OCBC supported 16 bill — seven died in committee, seven were sent to the Governor, and two were signed. OCBC opposed 32 bills — 20 died in committee, 11 were sent to the Governor, one was signed. Of particular importance to the business community, is the failure of SB 1387, which would have added three state-appointed “environmental justice” members to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board. OCBC commends Assembly member Tom Daly for his “no” vote on this partisan move overriding local control.

Overall, 1,779 bills were introduced during this legislative session, 542 of which became law (as of September 9). While the legislature was clearly busy, what is more surprising is the work that didn’t get done. This includes a comprehensive transportation funding plan to fill the $59 billion of unfunded projects throughout the state, an agreement on the governor’s “by-right” housing plan that would have allocated $400 million to assist the state’s housing crisis and streamline red tape to new housing development; and any meaningful discussion on how to fix and update CEQA. CLICK HERE for the full scorecard to see how the rest of the delegation ranked, and CLICK HERE for a summary of each bill. For more information, contact Bryan Starr, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs.